The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The events of the last few weeks have been like a never
ending roller coaster ride of despair that began the day George Floyd was
killed in broad daylight at the corner of 38th and Chicago avenue, a
place that turned into a makeshift memorial seen by millions around the world
while sending shock waves. In the
beginning I had a hard time seeing this as anything positive as millions around
the world, at a time of the corona virus scares, began protesting, rioting and
looting in their own communities.
As I
examine this event in a greater context I concluded that God showed up in a big
and mighty way. Let me explain.
After watching our law enforcement becoming overwhelmed by the protesters who damaged and
destroyed commercial property, businesses that the local people rely on for
their goods and services, our Governor called out the Minnesota National guard
to help law enforcement that second night.
As I watched from the comfort of my home I saw a well orchestrated effort
to stymied the damage from that night forward while assuring the protesters
their right to publicly protest.
There was also the incident of the tanker truck loaded
with fuel heading straight toward a crowd of protesters who had taken over the
freeway, roads that were closed by the Governor, but for some unknown reason
this tanker truck was already on the freeway.
I saw how brave some of the protesters were by hopping onto the moving
tank and bringing it to a stop. I watched as a couple of protesters pulled a
young lady ( some thought she had suffered a seizure) from the truck that was
headed toward her. I heard John
Harrington, Department of Public safety commissioner used the word ‘miracle’ as
he described the events and said that this could have been a far greater tragedy
than anyone could imagine.
In the coming days, I watched the growing memorial for
George Floyd as thousands of people made cards and brought flowers to set on
the street corner in front of Cup foods. I saw children doing chalk drawings
and Adult artists creating a world wide mural on the wall- a mural now seen by
millions around the world.
I also saw as food shortages were lingering in the
surrounding area how thousands of people
from our metro area brought bags of groceries to a local food shelve nearby- so
much food was brought that it reminded me of the story from the New
Testament where Jesus Christ took a few crumbs of bread and God made so much
more that the people who traveled long distances to hear him speak were
satisfied.
There was so much food that
the organizers donated to other food shelves in the area.
As plans were unfolding for the memorial service for
George Floyd I discovered that it would be held at North Central University- a
Christian University that trains tomorrows leaders. I saw how loved George
Floyd as by everyone who knew him and his early commitment to a Church where he
ministered to getting youth off of the streets.
I listened as people described his upbringing by a mom who had not only
fed and raised her own family, but her heart was so big that she provided a
home to other youth who needed one. I
listened to his younger brother who shared stories of his older brother playing
catch with the football and how he misses him.
I discovered what is now my
favorite gospel artist, Hezekiah Walker, sing at his memorial service and how
the gospel was being preached to millions of people around the world- people
who might not have heard the gospel.
Through this one black man’s needless death, people were being reached for
Christ which reminds me that God can
take the worse of life’s circumstances and make something positive.
I was
reminded of George’s 6-year old daughter sitting on someone’s shoulders with
the word faith on her shirt exclaiming in that little girl’s sense of optimism-
‘ My daddy changed the world! She was referring to the future changes to the
decades of police brutality.
There is
one other compelling reason for this blog post and it is this tendency for
those of us who have lead serene lives to be critical of those who struggle
with Chemical dependency issues. I
discovered that when the shelter at home
began, more people were relapsing. This
is natural when one’s daily structure and order is taken away. This tendency to
judge reminds me of the story of the Samaritan woman who was brought to Jesus
for being an adulteress and the religious leaders thought she should be stoned. Jesus looked at the woman and then the crowd
and out of his mouth he said, “ He who has never sinned let he cast the first
stone.” After some reflection each of them dropped their stone and walked away
to which Jesus said to the woman ‘you are forgiven.'
In the final analysis, God showed up in a big way at this
massive protest. In city after city, I witnessed law enforcement taking the
knee sending the message that they understand the pain and suffering and the
plight of all black and brown American’s and their fear of law enforcement.
Our God is a awesome and loving God who wants no one to
perish. Like George Floyd, you can have the assurance of everlasting life in heaven,
but first it requires a decision to open up the door of your heart and invite Him in.
If you do this today, I assure you that you will be embarking on a
adventure you never thought possible
knowing this Savior of the world.
Our God is an awesome God!
